Mike Halker

Clay Conley Has a Secret Love for Skittles, Starburst, and Twizzlers

If you don't know who Clay Conley is, you're obviously not that into food. For the past two years, Conley has been nominated for the James Beard Foundation's Best Chef in the South -- this year he was the only nominee in all of Broward and Palm Beach counties. The Maine native started off his culi ... More >>

Paul Castronovo: Give Him Pasta and Wine and He's Good to Go

If you've spent more than five minutes in South Florida, you know who Paul Castronovo is. As part of the Paul and Young Ron Show, Castronovo has woken up more South Floridians than a strong cup of Cuban coffee. The Paul and Young Ron morning radio show is much more than the usual comedic high jinks ... More >>

Rodney Mayo and Scott Frielich: South Florida's Savviest Restaurateurs

To say the South Florida nightclub and restaurant scene would be a much more bland and boring place without Rodney Mayo and Scott Frielich would be a huge understatement. While Mayo was opening his long-established West Palm Beach nightclub and live music venue, Respectable Street, in the mid-80s, f ... More >>

Ryan Sentz of Funky Buddha Brewery Wants More Breweries and No More Crappy Beers

As craft beer bubbles into South Florida's mainstream Ryan Sentz and the Funky Buddha Lounge & Brewery in only two short years have risen to the head of the pack. Maybe it's the Maple Bacon Porter that has craft beer enthusiasts packing their bar three deep. Maybe it's the speakeasy vibe of their B ... More >>

Nanci Alexander of Sublime Would Vote Foie Gras Off the Island

Quick! Name all the restaurants you can that donate all their profits to non-profit organizations? Sublime does just that. Sublime's owner, Nanci Alexander, is number five on our Tastemaker countdown. She founded the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF). The creation of Sublime is an ext ... More >>

Tim Petrillo of the Restaurant People Wants to See Edgier Restaurant Concepts

When it comes to downtown Fort Lauderdale restaurants, many have come and gone. If it wasn't lack of interest, it was the recession. If that didn't kill their business, changing trends did. Point being: it's a fickle business and you have to be on top of your game to stay relevant. In terms of the ... More >>

Steve Martorano Wants More Great Italian-American Places

A little over 20 years ago, Steve Martorano -- number seven on our Tastemaker countdown -- was on his way back up north. His dreams of opening a restaurant in Fort Lauderdale didn't work out and the cook (he doesn't like the word chef) was at the airport, waiting for a flight to Philadelphia. Then, ... More >>

Tom Moynihan of d.b.a./cafe Follows in His Father's Footsteps

d.b.a./café breaks the notion that good food and drink must be accompanied by a fancy setting and fancy prices. Cut up wine boxes line the kickspace under the bar. More of them form a New York City skyline at the far end of the restaurant, past the multicolored string of Christmas lights. Yes, Ch ... More >>

Lindsay Autry of Sundy House is South Florida's Top Chef

Being a finalist on season nine of Bravo's Top Chef, may have brought Tastemaker number 9, Lindsay Autry into our living rooms, but the chef had been working on her culinary career long before that. The Johnson & Wales University graduate's career started as a kid in North Carolina, trying to figur ... More >>

David Sabin of Brickhouse PR Wants to See More Celebrity Chef-Driven Restaurants

Not long ago the Palm Beach Wine and Food Festival was just a one-night affair taking over Palm Beach's very exclusive Worth Avenue. That is, of course, until our Tastemaker number 10, David Sabin brought it to another level. He's brought the festival from a one night event into a five day celebrati ... More >>

Jodi Swank of Swank Farms Would Vote Nutella Off the Island

Things are growing in Loxahatchee. That's where Jodi and Darrin Swank of Swank Specialty Produce grow some of the most beautiful and desired vegetables and herbs on their hydroponic farm. Though farming isn't easy in South Florida, the work pays off. The produce from the farm, which includes 200 v ... More >>

Cleve Mash of Dirty Martini Brings a Taste of Country to Palm Beach County

Before Cleve Mash became one of Palm Beach County's nightclub and restaurant owners, he was just an 18-year-old boy manning the door at his favorite South Florida nightclub. Sure, he wasn't old enough to be a bouncer -- but no one else knew it. Back then, he imagined opening his own club in that ver ... More >>

Lauren DeShields of Market 17 Is Done With Overrated Steakhouses

Lauren De Shields is a lifelong Florida native. She grew up in a Florida, food-centric family and even began her formal culinary education at Johnson & Wales University in North Miami. She cooked under Dean Max at 3030 Ocean for three years before heading out to California where she cooked at severa ... More >>

Tim Lipman of Coolinary Cafe: Serve Food That Is Honest, Fresh, Simple, and Refined

Tastemaker #14, Tim Lipman, and his wife Jenny, are the cool kids behind Coolinary Cafe, Jupiter's 47-seat eatery that is so often so packed, reservations are recommended for the nightly seatings. What's most impressive, however, is that Lipman changes his specials menu twice daily. Such frequent ... More >>

Due South Hit One Year Milestone With Anniversary Event

Travelling to the Due South brewery is always an exceptional experience. It seems at times to be almost an illicit prospect, what with having to find parking around slabs of marble destined to be someone's kitchen countertop and making your way towards an enormous industrial warehouse. But it's that ... More >>

Iliya Dimitrov of Valentino's Cucina Italiana Has a Secret Weakness For Ben & Jerry's

Not to sound pretentious, but there are bartenders and then there are mixologists. Bartenders are perfectly happy pouring a beer or mixing together a vodka and soda. Mixologists, on the other hand, are like mad--drunken--scientists: mixing up concoctions that have never been seen before. Iliya Dimi ... More >>

In The Tasting Room: Cafe Ole Espresso Porter From Due South Brewing

Friday's here, so it's time for beer. Every Friday, so long as the creek don't rise, this beer enthusiast will take a look at a Florida beer that, hopefully, should be readily available in a local shop or on tap at your favorite bar. This week, it's time to head on up to Boynton Beach and fill a p ... More >>

Frank Coniglio of E.R. Bradley's Saloon: Tells Us About the Harvey Wallbanger and His Love of Horse Racing

The Palm Beach food scene wouldn't be what it is today without the Coniglio family and its most notable family member - number 16 on our Tastemakers list - Frank Coniglio, co-owner for a string of Florida establishments that includes Palm Beach Island's Cucina dell'Arte, Nick & Johnnie's and Cha Cha ... More >>

Marc Falsetto of Rok:Brgr Hopes to See More Chefs Taking Culinary Leaps

Tastemaker 17 is Marc Falsetto, founder and CEO of ROK:BRGR Burger Bar and Gastropub in downtown Fort Lauderdale. You've probably noticed that gastropubs serving up craft beers and hand-crafted burgers are pretty popular these days. And for good reason - craft burgers and craft beers are two of th ... More >>

Julieta Bocos of Casa Frida is South Florida's Mexican Ambassador of Food

At Casa Frida Number 18 on our Tastemakers list, Julieta Bocos wants you to taste Mexico. Not the Mexico fast food chains try to sell, and not the Tex-Mex most Americans mistake as Mexican food. Slow-cooked moles - a Mexican sauce made with chocolate and chilis - and fall-apart pork called cochinit ... More >>

Susan Kim of Gabose Would Vote Meatballs Off the Island

Thanks to Susan Kim, you wouldn't be out of line if you called Lauderhill, Florida's Little Korea. Though the west Broward enclave isn't quite as dense with Korean business as Little Korea in Los Angeles, Kim and her Korean (barbecue) restaurant Gabose have paved the way for the slew of Korean eater ... More >>

Eric Guerro, Mark Fee, and Jeff Evans of Angry Union Brewing: See Which One Chose Chocolate Chip Cookies Over Beer

About two years, Mark Fee started brewing beer on his stove at home. The firefighter paramedic took up brewing as a hobby to let off steam. It didn't take long for some of his friends and fellow firefighters to join in on the brew making. It took only a few tries for the guys to figure out that th ... More >>

Vaughan Lazar of Kapow! Says the Local Scene Needs More Locally Sourced Food and Zombie Killers

The exclamation point is an official part of the name Kapow! Noodle Bar in Mizner Park. That enthusiasm is brought in no small part by the CEO and co-founder, Vaughan Lazar. Although Lazar was once known for his skills as a DJ spinning house music at club parties across South Florida, today he's be ... More >>

24. Dean Max of DJM Restaurants

New Times' Best Of Broward-Palm Beach 2013 issue arrives June 13. To celebrate, Clean Plate Charlie is serving up 30 of our favorite tastemakers -- restaurateurs, chefs, bartenders, and other foodies who make the South Florida food scene what it is. We'll start with number 30 and lead up to South Fl ... More >>

25. Chrissy Benoit of the Little House Boynton Beach

New Times' Best Of Broward-Palm Beach 2013 issue arrives June 13. To celebrate, Clean Plate Charlie is serving up 30 of our favorite tastemakers -- restaurateurs, chefs, bartenders, and other foodies who make the South Florida food scene what it is. We'll start with number 30 and lead up to South Fl ... More >>

26. Mike Halker of Due South Brewing

New Times' Best of Broward-Palm Beach 2013 issue arrives June 13. To celebrate, Clean Plate Charlie is serving up 30 of our favorite tastemakers -- restaurateurs, chefs, bartenders, and other foodies who make the South Florida food scene what it is. We'll start with number 30 and lead up to South Fl ... More >>

Any Beer You Want, Florida Trends to Local Brews

Drinking beer in this state a decade ago was a bland affair. Crates of beer-like water shipped in from the flat grainy states of the Midwest dominated shelves and beer coozies alike. When I first sampled a macrobrewed lager at a tender age, I thought to myself, "Who would WANT to drink this crap?" ... More >>

Poo Brew? Japanese Brewery Makes Elephant Poo Beer

Since craft beer has come onto the scene we've been seeing some interesting flavors pop up in beer: peanut butter cup, maple bacon, spirulina wit, oysters, rocky mountain oysters--i.e. bull testicles. And for the more part, we've gotten fairly used to these strange additions to our beer--okay, may ... More >>

Do You Care About Florida Craft Beer? Why the 64-Ounce Growler Bill Matters

Over the past couple of years, there's been a lot of talk about helping small businesses to grow. And it makes sense. In a slowly recovering economy, wouldn't you want to do what is possible to allow small companies to expand and hire?Well, apparently not.In order to help bring down costs -- and the ... More >>

Mike Halker of Due South on the 64 Oz. Growler Bill

Over the past few years it has become blatantly apparent, corporations rule the regulatory process. Whether it's BP getting a slap on the wrist knocking off Flipper's brothers and sisters, Monsanto suing farmers, or Wal-Mart shutting down family-owned business, we get the drift. The laws tends to fa ... More >>

The Craft-Beer Craze Finally Finds Florida

Due South Brewery to Open in Boynton Beach

​When you're at the Craft Brewers Festival in Jupiter this Saturday, be sure to find the local brew from Due South. It's the last time you'll be able to try it before Mike and Jodi Halker open their brewery at 2900 High Ridge Road in Boynton Beach later this season. The few familiar with the brew ... More >>